Jury 2019

Management

Angelika Krüger-Leißner

Angelika Krüger-Leißner was born in Jüterborg. She studied art history and history, and went on to work as a specialist teacher for 13 years. Ever since the reunification she has been politically active. Between 1990 and 1998, she was the Head of Department for Culture, Education and Social Affairs in the Havelland Region. Angelika Krüger-Leißner was a member of the Bundestag Committee on Culture and Media, and since 2009 she is the representative Chairwoman of the Committee on Social Affairs. Starting in 2005, she took on various positions: Member of the Board of Directors of the German Federal Film Board, member of the Federal Commissioner of the German Film Fund, Chairwoman of the German-French Film Commission and member of the preselection jury for the German Film Awards. From 2005 to 2013, Krüger-Leißner also worked as a film policy spokeswoman for the parliamentary group of the SPD in the Bundestag and was also a member of the SPD media commission. During this time, she published several articles on German film promotion and funding. Having been a jury member for Film Festival Kitzbuehel in 2014, Angelika Krüger-Leißner has coordinated and managed the FFKB jury since 2015. Since 2017, she is a member of the German Bundestag once again and remains faithful to our film festival.

Angelika Krüger-Leißner

Fiction Feature Film

STEFAN ARNDT

Stefan Arndt is a German film producer, who runs the production company X Filme Creative Pool in Berlin together with Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker, Dani Levy and Manuela Stehr. The company aims to grant filmmakers extensive creative and economic independence. He is co-founder and board member of X-Verleih, which collaborates with Warner Bros. to ensure the distribution of their own films. He was also Chairman of the German Film Academy, founded in 2003. The film “Love“ (Michael Haneke), which he co-cproduced, was nominated for five Academy Awards in 2013 and won the Oscar for best foreign language film.

Stefan Arndt

FEO ALADAG

Born in Vienna, she studied in Vienna and London and graduated with a Ph.D. phil.. Besides she worked as a film critic and columnist, before she started to play in theater and in front of the camera. She also completed a two-year guest study at the DFFB and numerous trainings (directing, acting and screenplay at the European Film Academy). In 2005 she founded Independent Artists Filmproduktion (Berlin). In her first project “Die Fremde” she acted as producer, author and director. The film has won 47 national and international awards and has been screened at more than 140 international and national film festivals in 50 countries, including the 83rd Academy Awards as a German entry in the category “Best Foreign Language Film. “Zwischen Welten” (2013) is Fee Aladag’s second feature film (production, screenplay, director), which was filmed at original locations in Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif Afghanistan as well as in Germany. The world premiere was in competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, was screened on 50 further international film festivals and won numerous prizes. 2016 Feo Aladag produced “Der Andere” for ZDF, for which Feo Aladag wrote the screenplay again. It was filmed in Niger, West Africa and Berlin and celebrated its premiere in October 2016 at the International Hof Film Festival.

Feo Aladag

KLAUS HANSEN

From 1983-89 Klaus Hansen was the owner of the company Luna in Copenhagen. Afterwards he graduated in law in 1990. For the coming years he was a member of various institutions representing international producers. Currently, Klaus Hansen is chairman of FilmFyn – a regional film fund in Denmark, which realizes feature films, documentaries, television films and video games. For many years Hansen has been working for producers, especially European ones, to represent and represent their interests on an international level and in Brussels.

Klaus Hansen

MERCEDES ECHERER

Actress, director and cultural activist. Mercedes Echerer is born in Linz and made her first stage experiences at school at the local state theater. Her theater engagements have led her among others, to the Theater an der Wien (CATS), to the Volkstheater Vienna, to the Theater in der Josefstadt, to Germany and New York City and began working for the cinema in the late 80s as well as for ORF / ZDF / ARD / SRF. She moderated inter alia The cult format „kunst-stücke“ on ORF as well as the Gala of Prix Ars Electronica and was host of Café Sonntag (Ö1). From 1999-2004 she was a member of the European Parliament. At this time, her focus was entirely on copyright. In 2004 she founded the EU XXL – forum and festival of european film, and in 2010 the cultural association Die2. She loves poetry and tours again and again with unconventional musical readings throughout Europe.

Mercedes Echerer

Documentary Feature Film

FRED BREINERSDORFER

Fred Breinersdorfer is a writer, film producer and lawyer. His extensive repertoire includes over 70 feature-length films, as well as mystery novels, novels, radio plays and plays. He received important awards and nominations. As a lawyer, he was instrumental in the development of the university place lawsuit. He lives and works in Berlin.

Fred Breinersdorfer

THOMAS FRICKEL

Thomas Frickel works professionally in film since the mid-seventies, mainly as screenwriter, director and producer of numerous short and feature-length documentary films for cinema and television, including “Der Kinomann”, “Der Störenfried – Ermittlungen Oskar Brüsewitz”, “Deckname Dennis”, “Die Mondverschwörung” and lately “Wunder der Wirklichkeit”. He received awards at the German and Hessian Film Awards.

Since 1986, Frickel, in his function as chairman and managing director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm / AG DOK (association for independent film in Germany with the largest amount of members), has been active in various film and cultural policy functions, for example on the board of directors of the Film Funding Agency FFA, on the advisory board of VG Bild-Kunst, as a delegate of the exploitation company of film and TV producers (VFF) as well as the social security for self-employed artists. For several years he was spokesman for the section Film / Media of the German Cultural Council. Frickel was also a co-founder and, until 1999, board member of the European Documentary Network EDN.

Thomas Frickel

MIJOU KOVACS

Mijou Kovacs was born in Vienna, by a French mother and an Austrian father. She grew up bilingually in Vienna and Paris. After completing her baccalaureate at the Lycée Français in Vienna, she went to the Max Reinhardt Seminar for her training, where she was discovered by Klaus Maria Brandauer in the second year of studies and brought to Josefstadt for a Shakespeare. She made her breakthrough with the play on Sigmund Freud “Berggasse 19″, alongside Curd Jürgens, in the role of Elizabeth von Ritter, his first patient, when he switched from hypnosis to analysis.

This was followed by leading roles in „der Schwierige“ by Hofmannsthal, „der Einsame Weg” by Arthur Schnitzler, the Roxane in „Cyrano de Bergerac“ the “Jeanne dArc au bûcher” in the great hall of the Konzerthaus in Vienna, in the Oratorio by Paul Claudel and Honegger.

Furthermore, film roles followed in three languages ​​- English, French, Italian.

“L’été 36” in the film by Yves Robert with Christian Clavier in Paris,

“La vérité en face” with Claude Rich and Danielle Darrieux,

Plus TV series such as “Ringstraßenpalais” and various „Tatorte.

Then she moved on to the great female characters she brought to the stage by literature, always with renowned musicians such as Franz Bartolomey or Walter Auer, preferably in the Glass Hall of the Muskverein

“Anna Karenina” by Tolstoi

“Fräulein Else“ by Arthur Schnitzler

“Frédéric Chopin and Georges Sand” as author, also played in the Festival of Salzburg and in Jerusalem

Also as author “Soirée Romantique” about Baudelaire, Rimbaud et Victor Hugo in French and in German

“Abelard et Héloïse” (French and German, also the dramaturgy based on the well-known novel by Christiane Singer “Une Passion”)

“Maria Stuart” and “Marie Antoinette” by Stefan Zweig

Finally the “ILIAS” by Homer, with original instruments

Then she dedicated herself to the documentary film where she directed, scripted and directed.

Like “Der Engel im Meer”, a film about the famous Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, the Cathedral in the Sea (World Heritage), co-production with BR / WDR, Telluxfilm, several times in Germany, also on 3Sat and ORF3,

Most recently for the ORF “Der Rockerpriester Guy Gilbert” with Marcus Marschalek. French version: “Le Mousquetaire de Dieu“. Portrait of a charismatic priest living in Paris and Haute-Provence, with an extraordinary project for young people who come from prison and are considered lost.

3 parts film about “Marie Grubbe” by Jens Peter Jacobsen, where she played this leading role from 16 to 80 years, a Danish heroine from the 17th century. There is a DVD of it (Amazon), as well as one of the “Berggasse 19” (the best of Josefstadt).

She is currently working on her first feature film, as an idea, author and director.

Mijou Kovacs

THOMAS PRIDNIG

Thomas Pridnig studied from 1994 – 2003 at the Film Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, he completed his studies with a Master’s degree. From 2000 to 2006, he worked as a freelance production manager and executive producer. Since 2006 he has worked as a producer for Ulrich Seidl, since 2009 as a producer for the film production company Lotus Film. Together with Peter Wirtensohn he took over the production company Lotus Film from founder Erich Lackner. They are managing partners ever since. Pridnig is a member of the Austrian Film Academy.

Thomas Pridnig

Short Films

SASCHA KÖLLNREITNER

Born in 1984, Sascha Koellnreitner grew up in Upper Austria. He began his cinematic career as a set runner, assistant camera and assistant editor. Working as cameraman for documentaries and as editor for numerous national and international commercials, he developed the tools necessary for taking the next step. His first award-winning directorial works in the commercial area opened doors to ever-growing projects. Since 2009, he has been working as a freelance director on national and international commercials, documentaries, TV reports and various TV and online formats. His first feature length film, the documentary „Attention – A Life in Extremes“, was screened in competition at international film festivals, such as Max Ophüls, Hofer Filmtage, Banff; it was nominated fort he Austrian Film Award and won the Austrian Newcomer Award at Film Festival Kitzbuehel. He is currently working on his fiction feature debut and is writing various screenplays.

Sascha Köllnreitner

LOREDANA REHEKAMPFF

Loredana Rehekampff studied Media Studies and Media Management at the University of Cologne, which she completed with a diploma degree. After professional stops in Germany, e.g. at X Filme Creative Pool (“Liebesleben”, “Alter und Schönheit”), Studio Babelsberg (“The International”, “Inglourious Basterds”), Herbstfilm (“Deutschland 09”) and Dor Film Cologne, she moved to Vienna in 2010 and has worked on various films and series in the production department until 2013 (“360”, “Das finstere Tal”, “Atmen”, “Spuren des Bösen”). Between 2013 and 2014, she was a film & series editor at ORF and then producer at Aichholzer Filmproduktion. Since 2017 she also works as consulting producer at the animation studio arx anima. In addition, she was part of numerous international producing and screenwriting workshops. Loredana Rehekampff is an EAVE and ProPro graduate and has been a member of the Austrian Film Institute’s commission since 2017.

In 2017, she founded Samsara Filmproduktion together with Andreas Schmied.

Loredana Rehekampff

ERVIN TAHIROVIC

Born 1982 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. With his family he came to Vienna in 1992 as a war refugee. Ervin studied Conceptual Art and Contextual Painting until 2011 at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. He completed his bachelor’s degree in 2015 at Film Academy Vienna (with Michael Haneke). Among other films, his documentary “Drina” (Homesickness) was released in 2018.

Ervin Tahirovic

FRANZISKA BENZ

From 2010 to 2014, Franziska Benz completed her drama studies at the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg. In 2013, she was awarded the “Günther Rühle Prize for Young Actors” together with the ensemble of “Desirevolution” as well as for her role as Lonyl. The play was also performed at the Heiner Müller Festival 2013 at the Residenztheater. In 2014 and 2015 she took part in “Hirnbonbon” at Schauspiel Stuttgart and in „Tracing Tales“ by the theater collective machina ex at Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 2010, she played the female title role in the play “Romeo and Juliet”. Since February 2016, Benz has been playing the role of Michelle Bauer in the RTL soap opera “Alles was zählt”. She is a member of the Bundesverband Schauspiel.